Push Back
by catmaniac
Summary: Cas tries to understand human emotions. One-shot. First story, so please go easy on me. Dean/Castiel. R&R please. :D


_A/N: This was written late at night (or early in the morning, depending on perspective) after a long day. It is modeled after a recent personal experience of mine. Therefore, it has little to no potential and I am greatly aware of this. Written somewhere in early S5, before everything got screwed up and complicated. It's fairly accurate to what happened to me, and I hope it didn't stray too far from the actual characters._

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><p>Castiel was confused.<p>

Human emotions were too intense for the angel, and he didn't understand whether the things he felt were normal or not. He wanted to ask someone for help, but he wasn't sure how to ask or whom. He considered Gabriel, but dismissed the thought as he imagined the ridicule he would receive from his brother.

He blinked and appeared behind Dean.

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><p>Dean was so engrossed in brushing his teeth that he didn't notice the sound of fluttering wings behind him.<p>

"Dean?" A familiar voice pierced the silence.

"Holy shit Cas, you know I hate it when you do that!" Dean glared at the angel as he said this, wiping the toothpaste off of the mirror after he spat all over it in surprise.

"I apologize. I was not aware that I was interrupting something" he replied.

"It's fine, don't worry about it. Is there something that you need?"

"Actually, yes. There is something that I would like to-"

"No, Cas," Dean cut off the angel's speech. "I really don't want to go searching for any more of your stupid angel crap. It's not going to help you find God because he ain't up there!"

Castiel sighed. "No Dean, this isn't about finding God. I wanted to ask you about these strange human feelings I'm having."

The elder Winchester thought about this briefly. Easy enough, how bad could it be? Everything seemed to confuse Cas and Dean didn't mind helping out his friend. "Sure, what's up?"

Castiel hesitated, as if looking for the right words. "I... There's this person that I know," He cleared his throat and continued in his rough voice. "and it every time I see them, I get the strangest sensation in the pit of my stomach. My heartbeat quickens and I become anxious. What is happening to me?"

Dean instantly felt a foreign twinge of jealousy stir in his thoughts. Castiel really liked somebody. But who was it? Who could the angel possibly fall in love with? Did Dean know them?

Castiel stared at Dean with a look that had fear written all over it. "To put it bluntly Cas, you like someone. You like 'em a lot." Dean didn't look into the confused blue eyes that could probably see his very soul.

"Do you mean an infatuation?" Castiel tilted his head as he asked this.

Dean rolled his eyes. "Yeah Cas, an infatuation."

Castiel seemed to analyze Dean for a moment before he spoke. "What do humans do when they like someone?" His voice sounded strange as it formed around the words.

Dean chuckled at his friend. "It's not that hard. All you gotta do at first is drop some hints, be real subtle about it. Push until they push back."

Castiel nodded as if he understood Dean's advice. "I'll try my best. I appreciate the advice," he quickly muttered as he zapped out of the room, leaving Dean to wonder what just happened.

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><p>Castiel tried several times to be subtle to Dean. He truly tried, but he just couldn't get the words right. He usually ended up muttering most of what he was saying, confusing Dean even more than his usual behavior did. Sam started throwing sympathetic glances in his direction, because that Castiel didn't know how to be profound. He had no idea how Sam knew what was going on, and at times he wished Dean would try to be a little more observant like his brother.<p>

After a good hunt a week or two later, Dean confronted him with the problem when they were alone.

"Cas? You okay?" His concern sounded genuine. "You're kinda acting funny."

Cas nodded. "I am fine." He was, wasn't he? He wasn't going through a life-or-death situation or anything, he was just extremely confused and frustrated with himself.

"Alright, if you say so." Dean plopped down on the dusty motel mattress. "Hey, how's it going with that person?"

Castiel tilted his head. "Who are you talking about?"

"Oh, you know, your little crush!" Dean teased, which made Castiel a bit uneasy.

"Well, I'm not good at hinting to my 'crush'," he used air quotations around the word, which seemed to further amuse Dean, "and I think I have failed at every attempt."

Dean chuckled a little at that. "Well, for one thing, you act so serious all the time, and you always look awkward and uncomfortable." Dean stood up and crossed the room to stand in front of Castiel. "You gotta relax a little bit," he said as he patted the angel on the shoulder. Castiel bristled at the unexpected touch. Dean smiled and said, "That's not how you relax, Cas."

Castiel loosened his tight posture and took a slow, steadying breath. He looked at the hand that still touched his shoulder, and it seemed to burn a hole right through his trench coat.

Dean snatched his hand back as he also realized it was still there, but he didn't acknowledge it further. "Who is this person, anyway? Maybe I could help ya out a little."

The angel shook his head quickly. "No, I can handle this. I'm sure they wouldn't feel the same about me anyway, so it isn't too much to worry about," he replied instantly.

Dean sighed, "Just push at them until the push back at you," he nearly quoted himself from the last time they discussed this. "Look man, I'm sure they do. I mean, you're umm… Good looking, as far as guys go. I mean, even if they're out of your league, you gotta try."

And that's why you don't feel the same, Castiel added in his thoughts, because I'm not good enough for you. Dean has most likely been with more girls than he can count and I'm too new at this. This could never work, he thought hopelessly. "I'll try a few more times and see if it works." He flew away before Dean could say anything more.

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><p>Dean settled on the hood of the Impala, sipping a beer and looking up at the desert sky. The warm breeze drifted by and masked the sound of his friend's arrival. He felt the familiar I'm-being-watched tickle the back of his neck, so he turned to see Castiel standing in the dirt a few feet to his right.<p>

He dipped his head in a greeting. "Hey Cas."

"Dean." Castiel looked up at him with his usual intense gaze.

The elder Winchester patted the hood next to him. "Come sit." He needed an excuse to sit close to his friend, who looked like he would crumble in defeat any second.

The angel moved awkwardly to the side of the car and crawled next to Dean. "Dean," he mumbled, his usually gravelly voice faltering a bit. "I need to talk to you about something."

Dean nodded. "Okay, go."

His friend hesitated. "I'm not sure how I'm supposed to say this."

Dean looked at the angel, trying to guess what he was thinking. He assumed it had something to do with the mysterious person, but a small part of him hoped Cas wanted to talk about him. "Go ahead and say exactly what you're thinkin', just like you always do."

"I like you, Dean," Cas blurted after a moment of silence.

A surge of happiness flowed through Dean from that statement. Him? All this time, his best friend liked him? How much better could it get? But, he had to be sure. "You mean like..."

"Infatuated. I do believe this is infatuation." Cas spoke in a quiet voice and looked down blankly in front of him.

Dean smiled. "Really? So all that time, you were trying to drop hints to me?" He smiled wider as his friend nodded solemnly. "Well, I was trying to drop hints too. I had no idea you felt the same way about me."

Castiel's head whipped up and he looked Dean straight in the eyes. "Wait. Does that mean you like me back? How long have you-"

"It doesn't matter." Dean scooted closer to his friend. "All that matters is that nobody's confused anymore. Here." He said he picked up one of Cas' hands and laced their fingers together.

Castiel looked down at their joined hands and smiled genuinely at Dean for the first time.

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><p><em>So, reviews would be nice since it's my first story... (:<em>


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